Your favorite columns on bosses, breaks, firings and pay

I'm so grateful to you, my readers, for asking me questions, sharing
your comments, and reading my columns every week. I'm taking a break for
the holidays, so I thought I'd share with you the columns that you
checked out the most in 2014. Here's a recap of the columns covering the
employment law issues that concerned you the most this year:

ObamaCare

1. The Little-Known ObamaCare Catch-22:
You are concerned and confused about the Affordable Care Act, better
known as ObamaCare, because every time I wrote about it, you read it.
This column was about a concern I had about a gap in the ability to
elect COBRA and the Affordable Care Act. It affected everyone who lost
their job outside an open enrollment period. You spoke up and we got a
partial fix, but the gap is still there.

12. ObamaCare, Handbooks, Benefits And More:
Your End-Of-Year Career Checklist: You've clearly been paying attention
and want to make sure you're ready for 2015, because many of you have
read this column already. If you want to have a great 2015, career-wise,
here's your checklist.

5 tips to nail your career in 2015

I've been thinking about what resolutions I should make for the new
year, and, as usual, I can list many things: get healthier, become
better organized, write a book (or three), and on and on and on...
Basically, pretty much the same things every year. And every year, like
most resolution-makers, I usually fail/forget before January 7.

So, I'm trying to find a better way to implement necessary self-improvement for 2015, and I think I found it.

Instead of a new year's resolution, set a new year's goal for your career in 2015!

What do you most want to accomplish in your career? If you are
unemployed, you probably want a good job. If you are employed, you may
want a better job - more money, a nicer boss, better working conditions.
All are worthy and attainable goals, but they seldom happen
automatically without planning and effort!

Here are some possible goals for 2015:

1. Figure out what you want next in your career.
Knowing what you want next is a major accomplishment and a very worthy
goal! It is the basis of everything - from your career path to choosing
your next employer or earning a certification or degree. When it comes
to something as important as your career, take time to do some thinking
and reflection. Read the classic career book "What Color Is Your Parachute?" If
your library has only one book about careers, this is the one - for
good reason. Be sure to do all the exercises in the book. Like millions
of others, you'll find them very helpful.

After you've read Parachute, spend at least an hour, maybe two
or more hours (you're worth it!), figuring out where you want to be in
the future. That old saying about "not being able to see the forest for
the trees" is about being buried too deeply in life's daily details to
see "the big picture." Reading Parachute and then taking the
time to think about your career is a very good way to see what is really
going on, what your big picture is - or what you want it to be in the
future.

If you finish this goal early in the year, you can add another goal (or two! See below)!

2. Create a list of your ideal next employers.
If you know what you want to do next (and even if you don't know),
explore the employment options available to you. What are your selection
criteria - location, industry, size, or something else? Think about
where you and friends and family have been happiest working. Or, where
you think you would have the best possibility of future growth. Research
your options online. MapQuest and Google Maps are two great ways to identify employers.

3. Expand your professional network so that you will have more options in your next job search.
This may mean bringing your LinkedIn profile up to the 500+ connections
level and becoming more active in LinkedIn groups related to your job
and career goals. Outside of LinkedIn, consider joining a national
association related to your profession (or your target profession).
Employee referrals are employers' favorite method of filling jobs - you
are five times more likely to be hired if you are referred by an employee than if you simply submit a resume or application.

4. Become more active in the local community to expand your local network.
To meet more people in your community, join the local chapter of a
professional or industry association related to your career goals or
volunteer for a non-profit in an appropriate role (like being an officer
in the parents' organization for your kids' school). You could also go
to your high school or college reunion. I met many interesting and
influential people helping my PBS station with their annual
fund-raising.

5. Learn something new that will help you in your career.
Perhaps you have a gap in your knowledge or the requirements for your
next step up the career ladder or the salary scale. Make your goal for
this year to - at a minimum - get started meeting that requirement. If
possible, meet that requirement. Perhaps the goal is learning one skill:
improving your understanding of effective email marketing, getting a
law degree, or creating beautiful watercolor landscapes. Once you have
learned that skill, use it as much as possible, inside your job or
outside of it in your personal life or networking activities, to gain
experience and confidence.

What are your goals for 2015?

The list above represents only a few possible goals for your career in
2015. Think about how you would like to be positioned for 2016, and
create your own goal if none of the examples above work for you. Then,
set your goal(s) for 2015, and go for it! Or, you'll be in the same spot
next year that you are now.

Holidays can mean humbug at the office. Tell Jack your troubles.

I've got a work-related question. I spent 6 hours baking for an event at work. What's wrong with me?

I don't know that there's necessarily anything wrong with
you, Kate (though perhaps you should be in a baking-related profession).
The holidays mean spending entirely too much time -- personal and
business -- on festive office events: baking, Secret Santa shopping,
standing around with a plastic cup pretending to be "merry,"
etc. I imagine you are someone who really throws yourself into projects
(i.e. not satisfied picking up a package of Oreos on your way into work
and calling it a day), so that only compounds matters. My only advice:
multi-tasking. Bake one big batch that can be used for the office party,
your idiot neighbor's holiday open house, and don't forget to keep some
for your own family. Same goes for shopping trips. And don't worry,
it'll be miserable January before you know it.

Meanwhile, Elyse says:

'Tis the season when people at my job are always offering me food and
I have to explain that unless I know the ingredients I can't eat it due
to my allergy. This is always followed by them continuing to force the
food on me, then acting offended that I won't eat it. So even when I say
I could DIE they make it all about them! What else can I do?

Look, I know Kate is pretty sensitive, but she'll get over it.
There's definitely some weird psychological mojo attached to homemade
food. It's not just some ingredients that were stirred together and put
in the oven, it's a treasured family recipe and the kitchen was the only
time I ever really truly connected with grandma and I am
offering you my SOUL and you dare refuse it, you animal?!?! Plus, there
may be some pent-up frustration out there about the vegan, gluten-free,
lactose-intolerant, low-sodium, free-range, anti-GMO world we now live
in. Can you fake a big ol' smile, Elyse? Just pleasantly explain that it
LOOKS absolutely delicious and you WISH you could eat it but the last
time you accidentally ate the wrong thing, you ended up in the HOSPITAL.
That last bit may not technically be true, but it gets the point
across: This is a serious allergy. Which reminds me, 'tis also the
season for open enrollment.

Do you have a work-related question for Jack? Write it in the
comments below (better answers to this week's questions are also
welcome!) or tweet it @AOLJobs with the hashtag #AskJack.

Jack's Job of the Week

Kate, I found you a job. As long as you're baking for six hours, you might as well get paid for it. So how about being a baker in Dallas, Texas? Or if want to find another way to make some dough, do your own search on AOL Jobs right now. Butcher, candlestick maker, and thousands of other great job listings!

Gossip, rumor-mongering, and catty behavior know no gender

I chose a career in finance for a number of reasons. I liked the classes
in college, I wanted a challenging career, I wanted to make money.
However, more than anything, I was interested in pursuing a career that
was not filled with women. This fact is surprising to many; however,
those that know me know that after growing up with five sisters and
attending an all-female Catholic high school, I was ready to leave the
drama of cattiness, gossip, hormones and cliques behind. Before I
started working, I glorified the world of finance as being removed from
drama. After all, I argued to myself that the lack of estrogen was bound
to make for a smoother work environment.

It took about two weeks on the trading floor of a large investment bank
for me to come to the realization that men gossip as much as any woman I
know.

Typically after a big deal closed, many would leave the office early to
celebrate over a few beers, and since I wanted to bond with my new
co-workers, I joined them for a few that led to many. The evening took a
turn for the bizarre when the group ended up at a strip club, and I had
no ride home. Thankfully, one of the guys from the floor offered to
drive me. Unfortunately, when he drove me home, he offered other things,
but took my rejection like a gentleman.

As I crawled into bed in the wee hours of the morning, I said a prayer
of thanks that I worked with men and would not be judged the next day in
the office. A few minutes after I took my seat on the floor, a teammate
asked me to step off the desk for a conversation, and he shared with me
the word that had spread around the floor about the evening before. I
stared at this friend in shock that word had traveled that fast--in a
matter of minutes, since most people arrived at 6:00, and it was now
6:30 in the morning.

Fortunately for me, my evening chauffeur did not make up stories and
told the truth--in fact, he shared the full story, including my
rejection of him. From that moment on, I began to view my male
co-workers in a completely different light. For the better part of my
life, I had always assumed that women were gossipers and that men could
not be bothered with sharing stories. However, I realized quickly that
men are just as bad--if not worse--than women when it comes to the
gossip department.

I would love to say that I learned my lesson about partying with
co-workers after that first incident. However, there were numerous other
times that I walked into work the next morning to a buzz about the
happenings of the night before. Finally, after a male co-worker shared
some intimate knowledge of a female teammate, I realized that I needed
to find more friends outside of work.

Women typically gossip in small groups of one or two close friends, and
usually stick with one person or one topic of conversation. From my
experience, men seem to gossip in large groups, around broad subject
matter. I have sat on a trading desk and heard men gossip about
everything from outfits that women wear to rumored hook-ups of
co-workers from a decade before--and the more outrageous the story, the
longer it seems to be discussed across the desk. Even after I left the
trading floor and worked for a smaller hedge fund, I found out that it
was the men in the group who spread information more than the women.

Looking back on my 14 years in the finance world, I feel that I have
heard and witnessed more gossip spread from men rather than women.
Perhaps it's just because women are better at keeping gossip
low-key--and I know that, working in finance, my perspective is skewed
since the majority of financial service professionals are male. However,
I have not heard gossip stories from other industries that rival mine.

I may be wrong in my assumption that men gossip more than women.
However, until someone convinces me otherwise, I will keep my friends
close and watch out for the men if I misbehave or have a few too many.

During a recent business leaders' conference in London, Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide
CEO Kevin Roberts declared marketing dead, saying, "The further up in a
company you go, the stupider you become  and the further away from new
things."

While I agree with his latter sentiment, the Bureau of Labor
Statistics expects marketing payrolls to increase by at least 13 percent
between 2010 and 2020. Perhaps what Roberts meant to say is that the
old ways of marketing are dead, as evidenced by the dramatic shift in
skills desired from today's marketer. Recruiters are ditching mass media
and direct mail for candidates who are savvy in search-engine
optimization, analytics, mobile platforms, social media and content.

I asked more than 30 marketing and recruiting specialists what new
marketing job titles they expect will become popular in the next decade.
Here are five of the most common roles they named.

1. Crowdsourcing specialist"You
don't [market to today's customer] by just vomiting sales pitches on
them, you do it by listening to how the product has helped them," says
Josh King, director of business development at Peacock Virtual Solutions.
This role has two parts: listening and promoting. Companies can no
longer dictate their brand identity to the customer. To that end, the
crowdsourcing specialist would monitor conversations about the brand on
the Internet and develop messages that respond to customers'
expectations. On the promotion side, the crowdsourcing specialist would
send out calls to action, such as inviting customers to compete to
create the best video about the brand and perhaps tying the theme to
something trending on Twitter.

2. Vice president of marketing data analytics"Accountability
wasn't present [in marketing] before. It's required now, because we can
measure every aspect of a campaign," says Jennifer Pockell-Wilson, vice
president of marketing and demand operations at Demandbase.
"You can't judge success by return on investment on a specific campaign
anymore because traffic, brand awareness and consumers come from
multiple sources that interact together."
People in this job would decide when, why and how marketing data
should be tracked. This includes data collected through marketing
automation, website analytics, social media, email campaigns, mobile
platforms, SEO, content marketing and other channels. The goals: to
improve marketing performance and continually refine the company's
definition of the ideal customer. This information would be shared with
brand and campaign strategists who design promotions.

3. ROI and marketing budget officerMarketing
budgets are shifting from quarterly allotments for print, direct mail
and media advertising to constantly shifting spending from one channel
to another. Data about return on investment are often instantly
available -- from paid search ad spending, for example -- so marketing
can be more nimble with resource allocation. The budget officer would
track ROI from all promotion channels and adjust spending based on those
results.
"The idea is to get marketing tactics out there quickly, track
results, then continue with ones that work and dump ones that don't,"
says crowdSPRING co-founder Mike Samson. "The idea is to try a bunch of things and learn through constant trial and error."

4. Marketing integration planner"People
don't call directly in from an infomercial or click a banner and
immediately buy items," marketing consultant Jocelyn Saurini says. "They
search for reviews, they interact with brands, they pay attention to
trending topics."
People in this job would identify ways to deliver a single marketing
message, campaign or branding effort across multiple digital channels.
An example includes using a pay-per-click advertising campaign to
promote a viral video or using SEO keyword analysis to help craft a
press release. They might also use tools such as Demand Metric's Marketing Channel Ranking Tool to prioritize message delivery channels based on cost and other indicators.

5. Content marketing chief "The
people who are able to create a lot of value in the marketing
organization of the future think in terms of content, not channels, and
in terms of insight, not data," says Zach Clayton, CEO and founder of Three Ships Media.
People in this job would plan the development of websites, blogs,
videos, infographics, webinars, social media and other content vehicles.
The individual would decide how that content would be promoted and
cross-promoted, then track its performance. Finally, the content
marketing leader would look for externally created content about the
company on the Internet and find ways to use it for SEO and other
marketing purposes.

What's your take?It's doubtful that every
marketing department will need all of these positions. The point here is
to show the future of marketing through the most highly desired skills
and emerging job titles.
"All the top-down, brand-driven marketing disciplines aren't dead,
they just must be balanced now with the consumer-centric disciplines
that require brands to let go of the steering wheel and let the
consumers drive," says Tom Cotton, partner at marketing consultancy
Protagonist.

Don't knock the idea of a routine--or a bit of exercise

Whether you're a first-time job seeker or someone who's been looking and
looking, everyone can hit a wall of frustration, loss of focus, and
even resignation during a prolonged job search.

If you've suffered a few setbacks (you were one of two final candidates,
or at the end of the process they decided not to fill the position due
to budget, etc.) it can be hard to keep at it with all of the energy,
enthusiasm, and zest necessary to come across as a great candidate. If
you're living this reality, I'd like to offer some ways to help you
recharge, stay focused, and get that job.

Letting go of rejection

First of all, please stop beating yourself up. Sometimes there are
obvious reasons why we don't get a job (wrong skill set, experience,
culture fit), and other times we'll just never know why. Yes, it's
frustrating. But when we continually focus on what didn't work and hit
replay over and over, it literally sucks emotional and creative energy
from us that we could be using to think about the next opportunity.

Did you make a misstep during the interview or feel like you didn't
successfully convey the things you feel make you stand out? By all
means, learn from the experience and keep practicing. But remember,
focus on practicing for the next opportunity, not dwelling on the past
one.

Routines and rituals

Set a time-frame for job search efforts each day. If possible, try
sticking to the same time-frame every day. For example, you are actively
working on your job search from 9:00 to 12:00 each day. When you have a
start and a finish, you'd be amazed how efficient you are.

The ideal work/rest ratio is 90 to 120 minutes to power away on
something and then take a short break. Why? When we restore ourselves
with either a drink of water, healthy snack, a quick walk, or some deep
breathing, we recharge and are able to improve our focus and clarity for
our next time chunk.

I'm a big fan of time-chunks, because when we spend entire days on the
same task, our productivity slowly diminishes over time, making us less
efficient. We also become tired, unfocused and are often listless by the
end of the day. Which brings me to...

The power of exercise, networking, and socializing

A job search can seem like a marathon, so let's take that analogy and
extend it to the physical realm. If you're not taking care of yourself,
you will burn out on all levels. Not just physically, but mentally as
well. Exercise is great for getting and staying fit, but the effects of a
workout also supercharge our brains and make us feel more energetic and
happier. Endorphins are a good thing. If gyms are not high on your
priority list, try other forms of movement like martial arts, yoga, or
dance. Or just take a walk.

Often, we can isolate ourselves when looking for a job. We feel like we
need to be searching constantly, which can sometimes mean being
surgically attached to our computers and smart phones. Remember how each
day you set a time frame on your job search efforts? That means that
you have time to get out, network, and socialize. Maybe this means
having a cup of coffee with someone in a field you're interested in,
taking a class, or volunteering. Yes, you could potentially meet someone
who might be able to help with your job efforts, but on a deeper level
you will be recharging yourself, which ultimately means more energy for
your mind, body--and job search.

You should totally follow your dreams, but...

When deciding on a college major, students are encouraged to think about a few things: what they love to do; what they want to do; what jobs they imagine themselves in; and what the earning and growth potential is like for those careers.

For instance, they would probably want to know ahead of time that human services majors see their annual pay increase by only about $7,500, or 22%, over the first 10 years of their careers, compared with the average American worker, whose salary grows by about $25,000, or 60%, in that time.

That's according to Payscale, the creator of the world's largest compensation database with more than 40 million salary profiles. It recently looked at the difference between starting (less than five years of experience) and mid-career (10 or more years of experience) pay by college major, and it determined the 13 majors with the smallest salary growth.

"We're not trying to discourage students from pursuing these majors - we're simply offering information so that students can make informed choices and get the most out of their degree, whatever major they choose," says Kayla Hill, a research analyst at Payscale.

Among the majors, child development has the lowest starting salary ($32,200) and mid-career pay ($36,400) while showing the least amount of growth in the first 10 years ($4,200, or 13%).

"Human support service majors tend to be paid less across the board," Hill says. "Child development workers in particular may see less growth over time because it is a field that tends to be undervalued by society. Additionally, childcare workers may not have the same opportunities for advancement as more technical jobs, where learning new skills can lead to a pay bump or promotion."

Human services majors had the second-lowest salary growth between starting and mid-career, while early childhood and elementary education had the third-smallest.

"People in support service jobs tend to find a high level of meaning from their jobs despite the lower pay," Hill says. "For many of these workers, the satisfaction and fulfillment they receive from helping others outweighs the lack of pay growth."

13. Theology

1/13

Common job: Chaplain

Starting median pay: $36,800

Mid-career median pay: $51,600

Difference: $14,800 / 40%

12. Social Work

2/13

Common jobs: Mental health therapist; social worker; nonprofit program manager

Consultants rank high in annual survey

If you are in college (or have a child who is), it's time to start the
search for a summer 2015 internship. While some people might think seven
months is a bit too far in advance to start searching, they would be
wrong. Competition to get an internship in your desired industry, much
less company, is aggressive.

Internships act as a solid bridge between the academic and business
worlds. Good internships connect you with great contacts, experience and
a good working understanding of the industry. The best internships
provide you with tangible training, relationship-building events,
hands-on experience and career development seminars. Vault.com recently released their list of the Top 50 Internships for 2015.

Vault surveyed 5,800 interns at 100 different internship programs for their Internship Experience survey.
The survey was based on the following criteria: "quality of life,
compensation and benefits, interview process, career development, and
full-time employment prospects."

"Today, 40 percent of all entry-level full-time hires in the U.S. are
sourced through internship programs," according to Derek Loosvelt, a
senior editor at Vault.com. "This means that, for those looking to work
for the most desired and admired employers in the country, internships
are no longer a luxury but a necessity."

According to Loosvelt, the company has been studying, surveying and
ranking employers for quite some time. Mainly focusing on consulting,
law, banking and now expanding into consumer products, tech, energy,
media and entertainment. Why study the internship programs of these
industries?

"Internships have been growing in importance, as nearly half of all
entry-level full-time jobs at the top employers in the country are now
sourced through their internship programs. So we found it important to
give readers a better sense of the best internship programs out there,
and to give them information about what it's like to intern at top
employers as well as how to get these internships," says Loosvelt.
Loosvelt says Millennials are looking for jobs and careers that have meaning.

"Of course, prestige and salary are still important to Millennials, but I
don't think they're the most important factors by far (like I think
they were to, say, Generation X). I think Millennials want to make an impact.
They want to feel their work is meaningful (the definition of what's
meaningful varies, of course, from person to person)," says Loosvelt.
Some people might want to advance the tech field in Silicon Valley,
others might find their meaning in charity, while others are spreading
awareness via social media or through education.

"Millennials are very focused on career advancement and training,"
Loosvelt says. "They're attracted to positions in which they'll be able
to make difference right away-that is, being able to contribute to
their firm's success without much waiting/training period. And they want
to know that they'll be able to advance quickly if they succeed. They
shy away from strict advancement time periods. And I believe that
Millennials are also less fearful when it comes to changing careers and
entrepreneurship -- starting their own ventures. This might just be
because it's easier to start businesses these days; for example,
brick-and-mortar stores aren't necessary to begin because, in most
cases, all you need is a web domain and an idea; it doesn't take that
much money to get going."

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Millennials will be
the majority of the workforce in 2015. Loosvelt agrees that more
companies (like the ones ranked in the study) are putting more time and
resources into their programs in order to attract top talent and retain
them.

There has been a major switch as companies have been putting a greater emphasis on training and development in internship programs.
"This is partly, I assume, because they realize it pays to do this. If
you treat your internship program like one long training period (and now
sometimes students will intern two and three summers with the same
firm), once your interns start full time with you, they're ready to
perform real work, not to mention they're apt to stay at your firm for a
lot longer period of time-that is, they'll be less apt to jump ship to
another firm just for the money since they have a stronger connection
(more loyalty) to you," says Loosvelt.

"Companies are increasingly offering better benefits and perks," he
adds, "as they understand that Millennials are interested in flexible
schedules (to raise families and/or engage in outside-of-work
activities) and in having a community feeling at work, which wasn't so
much the case with respect to past generations."